Uncovering Dynamic Capabilities for Service Innovation: Conceptualization and Measurement

The dynamic capabilities view (DCV) is in need of a solid empirical grounding. Existing attempts to identify the organizational behaviour (or microfoundations) on which dynamic capabilities rely are largely biased towards manufacturing. Thereby, these conceptualizations overlook some of the aspects that are specific for innovation in services, such as implicit innovation activity, intangibility of the product and customer co-creation. Studies dedicated to service innovation capabilities often only address a specific sector. More promising is the line of research that enriches mainstream innovation theory with insights from service innovation literature. In this paper, we are interested in a general conceptualization of dynamic capabilities that also covers the peculiarities of service innovation. Building on two key properties emerging from recent debates within the DCV, we classify existing attempts to conceptualize dynamic capabilities for service innovation. The only integrative conceptualization we encounter is then operationalized. Using two subsamples of a multi-industry survey dataset from 391 Dutch firms, we develop, purify (PCA) and validate (CFA) our measurement scale. Its wide applicability allows for comparison across firms and sectors, opening up the way for research on what capability brings about which type of innovation.